Wanna try my Age?

[andylegate]

Hey guys, I'm pretty much done with Night Time Camp Bravo, using a lot of the new plugin features.

If you'd like to try out my Age, you can download it from the link below. You'll have to manually install it.

Camp Bravo Night Time

[Jennifer_P]

Waah! Of course this happens just after I uninstalled Uru to try to fix a problem (which was not fixed).
Andy, I'm really curious about what all went into shifting your Age from daytime to night-time. Is there a thread where you've discussed some of that already, or shall I ply you with questions right here?

Welcome to the Crystal Signature Series! If you plan to write crystals into your Age and you don't want the Maintainers inspecting your Age to fall into a lava-filled crack which formed as a result of the crystal-caused contradiction you unknowingly wrote into your Age, then be sure not to miss a single installment of this thrilling series! It will discuss the common myths and misinformation which have been perpetuated about crystals and answer questions about crystal shapes, properties, and methods of formation. This series will be aired right here in this very signature. Questions or comments about crystals or the content of this series may be directed to: the Crystal Corner. The Crystal Signature Series: Everyone else is reading it. Are YOU?

[andylegate]

Is there a thread?

he......hehehe.......hehehheh.....ahahahahaha.........HAHAHAHAH.......MWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Apparently, just about every thread that I've started on the board for the last few weeks!

Part of why it was so many is because I converted my Age to night time, but I was also using the new plugin, so lots of questions!

I did more than just change the sky texture and throw in lighting. I had to put in lamp posts, hanging lights, you know a source of light.
Then sounds of course!
And then fix the journals so that they'd work. Added a linking book. I opened up my cave, and had to add stuff to it.
Learned how to make something move around, like Trylon's pistons in his age.

But, go ahead, ask away right here. If I don't know the answer, I'll find it for you.

[Jennifer_P]

Is there a thread?

he......hehehe.......hehehheh.....ahahahahaha.........HAHAHAHAH.......MWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

That made me laugh!

Mostly I'm just wondering about how much work it took to make the textures, decals, and shadows look nice for a nighttime environment instead of a daytime one. Because I would imagine that the contrast and shadow directions might need some changing to make them look like they really belonged to the night instead of just being daytime textures that are lit differently? Or doesn't it really make much of a difference? It has always bugged me to see a black & white movie shot in the daytime and then artificially darkened afterwards to make it look like it was shot at night--I'm wondering how you avoided that kind of effect in your Age, and how much extra work you had to do to achieve it.

Welcome to the Crystal Signature Series! If you plan to write crystals into your Age and you don't want the Maintainers inspecting your Age to fall into a lava-filled crack which formed as a result of the crystal-caused contradiction you unknowingly wrote into your Age, then be sure not to miss a single installment of this thrilling series! It will discuss the common myths and misinformation which have been perpetuated about crystals and answer questions about crystal shapes, properties, and methods of formation. This series will be aired right here in this very signature. Questions or comments about crystals or the content of this series may be directed to: the Crystal Corner. The Crystal Signature Series: Everyone else is reading it. Are YOU?

[andylegate]

Mkay, here's a KI shot. This wasn't the finished product, but after quite a bit of work had been done:



The way I did some of the textures...........well, I'd most likely have people here, especially Nadnerb chasing me around with a big stick going: "Bad Andy! Bad Andy!"

First thing I did was change my sky texture to a night time scene. The one I used first was simple and dark, just to give the illusion of it being night time, and didn't end up being my final texture. I then of course deleted my sun!

Then I experimented. I built a lamp post right at the linkin point. Put a lamp there and started playing with it. I'd export and link in.........Gee.....it's dark here! Quit, reload the Age and play with the lamp some more, link back in.
Then I stopped and thought about it. I decided to give Vertex painting a try. I wanted to use Nadnerb's light mapping, but this was a very large area I was going to be doing, and my brain kept hurting. So.......

My ground is a grid. A very big grid. I ended up having to cut it into 4 sections, as the new plugin got upset with how many faces it had.
I selected the faces in the first lamp post area (the link in point), enough of them to kinda cover the same area a spot light would light up (oh, BTW that's the kind of light I used for the lamp posts. A spot light pointing straight down at the ground.

Once I selected the faces of the grid in the cone area of the spot light, I used the W-key and subdivided them (made more faces).
Now, you have to be carefull with this. The more faces you have, the more vertex points you get. The more vertex points you get, the more control you have over your Vertex Painting.
BUT........
This can slow things down quite a bit, as you're making the program have to think harder and harder. (slows Uru down).
So I only sub divided a couple of times.

Went back to Object mode, and selected the light again. I deleted it.
Then I seleted that part of my ground again, and while in Object mode, I selected the Edit option below. In the mesh tab, there's a New button next to Vertex Colors. I clicked on New.
The ground went black. I then went to Vertex Paint mode, and selected the paint color the same as my light color.
Jumped back to Object mode and put my spot light back in. Made all the adjustments to it.
Then I selected the ground again, and selected Vertex Paint mode again, and started painting the ground. This gave me what I wanted. Bright right under the light, then fading off to blackness way from it. I then selected the objects in that area, like the light posts and did the same to them.
In many cases, I didn't even have to use the Vertex Paint brush. Like the Lamp Posts. I'd selected it, then click New for Vertex color, and bingo! It automatically lit up the post so that the side facing the light was lit pretty good, yet, the side facing away from it was dark.

Shadows. If you look closely in my Age. You won't see any. ehhehe. I kinda avoided putting them in this time around.

One of the last things I did, was to put a sun back in, but I adjusted it's energy so low that it's very weak. What I was shooting for (and suceeded beyond my wildest dreams) was to cast Moonlight on stuff. I've got a giant ringed planet in the sky.
This every so slightly lit up large areas with a silvery light. So like in the Testing Area, you get what looks like moon light from a full moon.

[Jennifer_P]

Sounds like you've had a little adventure!
/me scribbles down notes about light mapping, vertex painting, grid division...
So you didn't have to tweak the textures or details at all?

Shadows. If you look closely in my Age. You won't see any. ehhehe. I kinda avoided putting them in this time around.

Hehe, you know, until you said that your Age looked perfectly natural to me.

It's a very nice-looking Age, from what I've seen of the screenshots. I think it's the detail you put into the shapes of the picnic table and the, uh, climby-thingy that impress me the most, although Camp Bravo just has a great "Campy" atmosphere too. Very good job!

Welcome to the Crystal Signature Series! If you plan to write crystals into your Age and you don't want the Maintainers inspecting your Age to fall into a lava-filled crack which formed as a result of the crystal-caused contradiction you unknowingly wrote into your Age, then be sure not to miss a single installment of this thrilling series! It will discuss the common myths and misinformation which have been perpetuated about crystals and answer questions about crystal shapes, properties, and methods of formation. This series will be aired right here in this very signature. Questions or comments about crystals or the content of this series may be directed to: the Crystal Corner. The Crystal Signature Series: Everyone else is reading it. Are YOU?

[andylegate]

uhm, let's see.....

Okay, the "bulbs" for the lamps, I had to make a nice bright texture for them. What would have made them look even more real, is if I had put in some rotating sprites with a lamp glare. But I sorta had a deadline. Maybe later.

Not really much else. But I did think to myself at the time, that if I couldn't get a texture to look just the right darkness (IE it was too dark or too light), that I would take it in Gimp (my photoshop) and adjust it's darkness there.

Mostly, with the new plugin, everything was controlled either using actual lights and/or vertex painting. I'll load up another screen shot here in a few and show you the effect of the moon light.

EDIT:
'kay, here's some more screen shots, this is the finished product:

Look at the cliff in the background. Notice how my moonlight highlights areas, but others stay dark. There's NO vertex painting here on those cliffs. That is pure light from my weak sun lamp.

Show Spoiler

In this next shot, you can see how the spot lamp lights up my avie, it's pretty cool. Yet the ground, lamp post, and book are both light and vertex painting.

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In this next shot, you can see several things, including a mistake. The dam is lit up by the moon light, but you can see where I used vertex painting to make it look like light is shining from inside the school house, out the windows and on to the dam, and on the ground.
The mistake is the porch light. I've got it a little too bright, and it's shining through the corner of the building to the otherside of the mesh.

Show Spoiler

Here is an example of rushing. I had to get this part done quickly. I plan on going back and trying to make the texture look a little better (the light and dark areas). This is down in what I call the Mystery Cave.

Show Spoiler

This last shot is in the end of the Mystery Cave. I put this ball in, and got it to bounce up and down like Trylon's pistons in his Age. I put a very low frequency hum in here too.

Show Spoiler





[andylegate]

Bump!

Just wanted to let you know, there's an updated version of Camp Bravo Night Time ver, 1.2.1 up.

There were many things that have been changed or fixed from the last version.

I've also added a short clip of background music composed and recorded by a fellow explorer. He does great work!

The link in my first post has been updated.

[Nadnerb]

Excellent stuff! I like the entrance music, which reminds me of linking into Minkata, and the triggered use of the spooky noise in the schoolhouse and at the entrance to the training area. The light cones have been improved since the screens you posted earlier. All around great work.

[andylegate]

Thanks!

I find that as I go along, everything get's easier........then of course some brick wall or another pops up! hehehe, but learning to get around it does nothing but help me learn.

And of course, there's my Maintainers.....like having my own personal Beta Testers.......

Of course sometimes when they get done with their inspections, I feel like I've been mauled...hehehe, but that's what they are there for!