Sigil Tileset (w/ shadows enabled), new placeables, and what NOT to do when making a tileset!

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               Using Uncager's updated Sigil tileset as a base, and with a lot of help from CM3, I've got shadows working in the tileset. I still have a lot of cleanup to do (i.e. turning off shadows on meshes that shouldn't have them), but the tileset is working in game and looks pretty impressive.



While I was at it I also decided to create new placeables to go along with it. However, you blokes will have to wait til I start working on the module's plot lines (i.e. when the custom content is finished) to get your hands on the hak set. So far I've created the gypsy wagons (remakes of the BioWare models) and a junk pile. Next up will be some pillars and maybe a few placeable buildings.

When it came to modeling Loch Haeldhan - the major city in my module - I needed something that looked gritty and had strong fantasy elements while at the same time posessing strong ties to more traditional medieval styling. Sigil fit the bill perfectly! Thanks CODI for making this and to Friedeyes and Uncager for keeping it alive... 
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Pstemarie, 17 août 2013 - 05:30 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Master Jax]

               Module's plot lines? So... this is for a module? 0__0 An adventure in the setting?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

                Yeah its for a LAN module I'm developing to play with my family and friends - kind of a DnD Nights sort of thing. I'm just using the Sigil tileset - not the planescape setting it comes from. The module is set in my own campaign world which I've been slowly translating to NWN for the past few years. The city that the tileset will represent is described as...

Loch Haeldhan is the largest port city on the continent of Thaer. Located at the mouth of the River Tythan, the city is a cultural crossroads where traders from across the world exchange goods and technology. Loch Haeldhan is an open city, embracing members of all races - dwarves, men, goblinoids, giantkin, etc. - willing to put aside racial prejudice and live together under its laws.

Its a departure from my original concept of the city, influenced by the ScyFy Channel's Defiance series that premiered earlier this summer. However, it fits the overall vision of the world quite nicely. I'm really trying to get away from the stereotypical world where its the "goodly" races vs. the "evil" goblinoids and their ilk.

Since the module is designed to be run as DM driven sessions, its enabled me (in theory at least) to avoid a lot of the requirements typical of multiplayer modules or PWs. I'm not sure how it will all pan out, but as long as we all have fun playing through it , that's all that really matters.

The module uses a lot of custom content that's been tailored to work with Project Q - hence the reason I'll release the hak set once I'm done fleshing out areas. So far I've fixed quite a few things with older content, added onto existing content, and created tons of new stuff.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               Dressed up the "Green Shop" terrain feature with a sign and made an awning placeable for slightly more character.


               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               Back to reworking tiles - work is progressing nicely! I've been adding "black" meshes to the voids where the tiles meet and have cleaned up quite a few areas where seams were visible. I've also cleaned up several walkmesh issues that may improve path-finding as it can be somewhat bothersome on certain tiles.

Speaking of pathfinding - I've noticed that the tiles that seem to have the most issues have smoothing group setup on the walkmesh. Coincidence? In any case, I've been removing the smoothing as I recall a conversation a long time ago with one of the tileset gurus that said smoothing wasn't necessary for walkmeshes.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Fester Pot]

               Personally, I'm not a fan of signs as a builder. The shop sign hanging on the wall above the door is specific, and since it's an option a builder cannot change, it's a building that should only appear once.

I'd rather see the sign removed, and the awning stripes have variety in colour.

FP!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Fester Pot wrote...

Personally, I'm not a fan of signs as a builder. The shop sign hanging on the wall above the door is specific, and since it's an option a builder cannot change, it's a building that should only appear once.

I'd rather see the sign removed, and the awning stripes have variety in colour.

FP!

The shop is a feature - so its a one-off building. I originally wanted to make the sign a placeable but the walkmesh on the tile was too fiddly to allow proper placement. The textures that Uncager used for the windows are pretty specific as well - marking it clearly as an Apothecary shop. With this in mind I opted to just make the sign part of the building.

This is the window texture - as you can see very specific. I plan on making a more generic one.



I'm going to create a generic version of the building without the added sign and the green paint which will be more appealing for anyone wishing to build with the tileset modification I've made. I might even do versions with paint that matches up with the awning colors used for the placeables in Q. While I'm at it I'll also have to make more long awnings in those colors as well. 

'>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Pstemarie, 17 août 2013 - 03:13 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               More walkmesh fixes - all the slum terrain (building) were set to "nonwalk" when they should have been set to "obscuring". Just a reminder to people when working on tilesets and editing walkmeshes - "nonwalk" material, AFAIK, does NOT block LOS. To block LOS you have to use the "obscuring" material.

Once I've got all the walkmesh material fixed I'm going to go back through the slum (building) tiles and set the uppermost vertices z-height to be equal on all tiles. Right now the z-heights are all over the place which, when tiles are rendered in game creates a walkmesh that has numerous peaks and valleys. This can't be good for the engine!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Pstemarie, 17 août 2013 - 03:00 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

                This has now officially become more of a blog than anything else...
I'm about half way through the fixes to the Sigil Exterior tileset and just wanted to point out some of the mistakes I have encountered so far - and FIXED:

• Duplicate geometry - several tiles had 100% duplicated geometry. Not sure if this was an attempt to fix shadows or an import/export issue. Either way this type of stuff can cause the game to choke, not to mention creating texture flickering issues in game.
• Walkmesh material issues - if its a wall it should be set to "obscuring". "Nonwalk" material is for areas that a model should not be able to path find through and does not block LOS.
• Holes in the back of models - these areas should be filled with "black" textured geometry so that you cannot look through the model from the backside in the toolset. Furthermore, all that black geometry on the tileset has another use - IT CASTS SHADOWS. Many of the shadow issues with this set - especially the buildings - were caused by voids at the back of the models.
• Walkmesh overlapping edges/faces - YOU CANNOT pass over vertices when creating faces. 99% of the walkmesh errors I've fixed in this set are because edges were not properly linked to vertices. Make sure that any edge that will pass through a vertex instead terminates st that vertex. Also you cannot have overlapping faces - this is self-explanatory.
• Lastly, RUN YOUR TILESET THROUGH CM3! I'll be passinbg these tiles through CM3 again just to make certain my fixes are actually fixes.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_T0r0]

               @Pstemarie , question on #2.
I have a tile I'm working on that has something to do with this. I understand the whole nonwalk for wall but my question is, does the z-axis matter at all? If I have a plain tile with a 5m wall running thru the middle, is there a difference between a walkmesh that mirrors the tile exactly 3-d wise and a flat walkmesh with non walk where the wall is ?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               Yes, if your 5m wall is meant to block LOS then you want to use material #2 obscuring with a 3D walkmesh. If you use material #7 and a flat plane, you'll get the same net effect BUT you'll be able to target through the wall as if it didn't exist.

I would opt for the 3D walkmesh. Its a little more taxing than the flat plain, but in the end the benefits outweigh the slight increase on processor load (and I mean VERY slight increase).
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Pstemarie, 17 août 2013 - 08:39 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               A better explanation of walkmesh z-height tiling for the fella that sent me a PM...



Tiles 1, 2, and 3 represent "building" tiles. You'll see that the tops of Tile 1 and Tile 3 (representing the highest point of the obscuring faces superimposed on the building geometry) are the same z-height. Tile 2 however has a top z-height lower than the others. In my book this is bad because its not uniform with the other tiles. I'm not sure if its really bad engine wise, but I think its easier on the processing when it doesn't have to calculate a bunch of heights for a plane surface that is normally not used by models.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               Pstemarie (et al), I hope uploading your fixes was alright with you. '>

I updated the CODI Sigil Tileset entry on The Neverwinter Vault, and it includes your fixes. I also compiled the MDLs.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

henesua wrote...

Pstemarie (et al), I hope uploading your fixes was alright with you. '>

I updated the CODI Sigil Tileset entry on The Neverwinter Vault, and it includes your fixes. I also compiled the MDLs.

I COULD HUG YOU!!! When my computer's RAID array fried I thought this was lost forever!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Carcerian]

               Some very nice work, I have been making some simpler CODI based stuff as well (PLC walls, floors etc), and will be happy to release when done '> (walls to be chopped up into smaller builder-block sized parts...)


               
               

               

                     Modifié par Carcerian, 02 décembre 2013 - 10:34 .