HighDef rendering for presentations, etc.

[xistence]

Here are some infos about the render stuff i did (tho it is no big deal at all):

First: all brushed should use 'Lightmap' at the Brush/Properties/Lightning. Brushes that should be transparent somehow, should still use 'Gouraud' (otherwise some weird graphical effects will occur)
Second: Under Brush/Properties/LightControl, the LMGridSize should be set to 1. Notice: that will take some time to be calculated and processed when you build the map! Also notice: large brushes might crash this process, as a lot of memory will be allocated to calculate the lightmap. This can create a 'deadlock' for Dedit, so it will crash. Don't use too large polygons.
Third: ClipLight, CastShadowMesh, ReceiveLight, ReceiveShadows, ReceiveSunlight: all to TRUE

I further defined for my Nvidia-card to 'overwrite' the 3D-Settings from Tron. I increased individually the AA and some other stuff. Important: don't use 'Tron2.0' as Profile (Nvidia might list ist as 'known game'). Add 'Lithtech.exe' as custom entry, as you start this executable from Dedit, not the Tron20.exe.

The rest is just creating a nice room for the rendering with a matching light setup. Hope this was helpful, for the rest, maybe something plus tutorial-map can be put into the wiki.

[tronrose]

Thank you! Should a poly's size limit be around 256 units? If I understand correctly, this will also help reduce graphic "sparkles" that can also be created with T-junctions.

On the thing with the Nvidia profile: I've tried to get Nvidia to fix this but there is virtually no way to contact them about it(Not that I know of anyway). I tried contacting them through the forums, but I was unwelcomed by their "grossly arrogant" community.

Another note on rendering with the Nvidia profile is SLI, which I've posted here. I haven't tried Nvidia Inspector yet because I've lost my SLI setup some time ago

[deeahchur]

Very helpful! I'm guessing the use of LightMaps in this case is just for the rendering process, since otherwise we have been recommended to not use LightMaps.

[TronFAQ]

I agree with pretty much everything X had to say, but I do have a couple of questions for him.

First: all brushed should use 'Lightmap' at the Brush/Properties/Lightning.

While Lightmaps will definitely make your map look its best, I'm not sure brushes should always be set to use Lightmaps. As you said, this type of lighting greatly increases map compiling time. It also causes the game to use more memory.

Wouldn't it be better to use Gouraud lighting most of the time, and only apply Lightmaps where it can be used for best effect? That's the way I've always done it. I only use Lightmaps in certain areas, usually ones where the surfaces are meant to look reflective. Where they use Environment Maps or Detail textures.

ClipLight, CastShadowMesh, ReceiveLight, ReceiveShadows, ReceiveSunlight: all to TRUE

I agree with all of that, too. Except perhaps CastShadowMesh. A map author may not always want shadows in his map. I'm not sure if setting that to True adds additional time to compiling or uses more memory, but I suspect it does. Why set that to True if you're not going to use it. But if you want shadows, then sure. Of course.

EDIT: Never mind, it seems unchecking the Shadows box on the World Processor will override CastShadowMesh. So you can turn off Shadows that way, and not have to worry about CastShadowMesh slowing things down if you didn't want shadows. I wasn't sure if the Shadows option in the Processor would completely override this or not.


Just to add my own tip: Every time you add a Light or DirLight to your map, set FastLightObjects to False. If you set this to True, the lighting quality will be crappy and your models (e.g. characters) will look very dark/black.

[xistence]

Wouldn't it be better to use Gouraud lighting most of the time, and only apply Lightmaps where it can be used for best effect? That's the way I've always done it. I only use Lightmaps in certain areas, usually ones where the surfaces are meant to look reflective. Where they use Environment Maps or Detail textures.

No, because this rendering setup is just to process a map, jump in, take a screenshot, that's it. Such a map or scene setup is not intended to be playable. For sure i have the same models optimized about lightning and all that stuff, which then will be used for real game maps. There, i only use gouraud.

I agree with all of that, too. Except perhaps CastShadowMesh. A map author may not always want shadows in his map. I'm not sure if setting that to True adds additional time to compiling or uses more memory, but I suspect it does. Why set that to True if you're not going to use it. But if you want shadows, then sure. Of course.

Just for the laziness. As said, such a setup is not ment for being fast processing or playable as map. It is a pure scene setup to render nice shots of models and stuff.

[TronFAQ]

Ahh! The lightbulb goes on. . I understand. Your tips are strictly for rendering objects so they'll look their best. Not for general map use. Yeah, that all makes perfect sense now. Should have read more carefully. (Burned out and tired at the moment, so my bad.)

[xistence]

Yup, that's it. I changed the topic for a better understanding, was my fault . For sure, these tips are not suitable for in-game settings.

[HangmanEXE]

What about for when we are doing our final processing/packaging of our maps & map items when completed before we package it up for sharing? Should everything in our maps be set to lightmap then?
I only ask as when I looked at the provided map examples from the game "EVERYTHING" in those seems to be set to lightmap.

[xistence]

What about for when we are doing our final processing/packaging of our maps & map items when completed before we package it up for sharing? Should everything in our maps be set to lightmap then?
I only ask as when I looked at the provided map examples from the game "EVERYTHING" in those seems to be set to lightmap.

This depends on several facts:
- Performance
- Optic
- Use

Basically the Tron-optic is different to most other game settings, in this case the 'Lightmap'-setting would be nice looking, but often fatal for the performance. Furthermore, it has no real use as well, the Tron-style is more 'digital', flat and not too realistic.
So my personal answer: Only use lightmap in case you also want to use shadows, but then use it rarely, as they are bad for performance and also take more time to process. IMHO lightmap is no style really need for tron-like maps, so 'Gouraud' should be acceptable.