Difference between revisions of "Using kits"
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imported>DewiMorgan (Tut on using kits, mostly about with the pitfalls that the main tut avoids. Segues into static collections tut.) |
imported>Omzy |
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This page is intended as a more advanced discussion of the issues you might run into when using kits in Fallout, and how to make your work with them faster and less painful. | This page is intended as a more advanced discussion of the issues you might run into when using kits in Fallout, and how to make your work with them faster and less painful. | ||
It assumes basic knowledge of kits, experience of using at least one, and understanding of all basic skills taught in the [[Category:Getting_Started#My_First_Vault_Tutorial_Series|My First Vault]] | It assumes basic knowledge of kits, experience of using at least one, and understanding of all basic skills taught in the [[:Category:Getting_Started#My_First_Vault_Tutorial_Series|"My First Vault" Tutorial series]], such as object palette management, and finding objects by name. | ||
== Kit capabilities == | == Kit capabilities == | ||
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However, looking more carefully, you notice that with both kits: | However, looking more carefully, you notice that with both kits: | ||
* | * You can't create rooms with convex corners, since they only have concave corners. | ||
* You can't create rooms with both a door and a window on one corner piece. | * You can't create rooms with both a door and a window on one corner piece. | ||
* You can't create long thin rooms or passages that are one square wide. | * You can't create long thin rooms or passages that are one square wide. | ||
* You can't create "cupboard" rooms that are one square in total. | * You can't create "cupboard" rooms that are one square in total. | ||
" | Well, "can't" is a strong term. You certainly CAN create these things, by using similar pieces. For example, by using a WasteRmWindow01 and a WasteRmDoorFrame01 in the same space, one of them turned by 90 degrees, you will begin to emulate a corner with both a window and a door on it. By using two WasteRmWall01 pieces in the same square, one rotated completely around, you could get a 1-square wide corridor. | ||
But don't try that. That way lies madness, for the ceilings and floors will be in the same place, giving you the dreaded texture-flicker. If you move one or the other of the pieces up or down by one unit, you will fix this problem, only to expose another: one-unit gaps, through which the "void" can be seen. Even if you fix these with careful positioning of mats and pipes to hide the cracks, the shading will still be off: most kit pieces are designed to be darker, or dirtier, towards the walls. So you can tell by looking at the floor or ceiling that it doesn't line up with its neighbors. | But don't try that. That way lies madness, for the ceilings and floors will be in the same place, giving you the dreaded texture-flicker. If you move one or the other of the pieces up or down by one unit, you will fix this problem, only to expose another: one-unit gaps, through which the "void" can be seen. Even if you fix these with careful positioning of the kit pieces, and mats and pipes to hide the cracks, the shading will still be off: most kit pieces are designed to be darker, or dirtier, towards the walls. So you can tell by looking at the floor or ceiling that it doesn't line up with its neighbors. | ||
Instead, be aware of the limitations of your kit, and design your cells to use only what is available. | Instead, be aware of the limitations of your kit, and design your cells to use only what is available. | ||
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Avoid this where you can, partly for performance reasons. Different kits have different lighting needs, different sound settings, and so forth, to make them convincing. Also, they have different textures and meshes, of course, and it makes sense to load only the resources for the area the player is currently in. | Avoid this where you can, partly for performance reasons. Different kits have different lighting needs, different sound settings, and so forth, to make them convincing. Also, they have different textures and meshes, of course, and it makes sense to load only the resources for the area the player is currently in. | ||
There are other reasons, too: the player's local map becomes nonsense, so it's unfriendly to the player. Then there are technical issues: creating and tweaking your navmesh, and placing items, becomes a lot harder with a two-level map; you may also find that the kit you want to use on the bottom floor is too tall, given the height of your stairs, and its ceiling would clip through the floor of the rooms above. Even if the kit pieces themselves don't clip, clutter that you sank into the floor of the upper rooms may poke through the ceiling of the cellar, or wires from lightfittings in the cellar might reach up into the rooms above. | There are other reasons, too: with multiple levels, the player's 'local map' in the GECK becomes nonsense, so it's unfriendly to the player. Then there are technical issues: creating and tweaking your navmesh, and placing items, becomes a lot harder with a two-level map; you may also find that the kit you want to use on the bottom floor is too tall, given the height of your stairs, and its ceiling would clip through the floor of the rooms above. Even if the kit pieces themselves don't clip, clutter that you sank into the floor of the upper rooms may poke through the ceiling of the cellar, or wires from lightfittings in the cellar might reach up into the rooms above. | ||
So it is very often better, for the player, for optimisation, and for preventing | So it is very often better, for the player, for optimisation, and for preventing complications for designers, to have a static teleport door between two areas, with each one being in a separate cell. This is especially true where they are on separate levels. | ||
In the example given - a house and its basement - very little advantage is gained from having a regular door. The player can't typically see from a basement room, up the stairs, to a room upstairs. | In the example given - a house and its basement - very little advantage is gained from having a regular door. The player can't typically see from a basement room, up the stairs, to a room upstairs. | ||
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If you do this, ceilings and floors will typically require six types, assuming you shade them a little towards the walls: | If you do this, ceilings and floors will typically require six types, assuming you shade them a little towards the walls: | ||
* | * Shaded on one side (for a floor/ceiling by a straight wall). | ||
* | * Shaded on opposite sides (corners). | ||
* | * Shaded on two adjacent sides (corridors). | ||
* | * Shaded on three sides (ends of corridors). | ||
* | * Shaded on all four sides (cupboards, airlocks). | ||
* | * Unshaded (middle of a room). | ||
If convex corners are likely to be needed, then that would add another nine possibilities: | If convex corners are likely to be needed, then that would add another nine possibilities: | ||
* | * Shaded on one side and one free corner. | ||
* | * Shaded on one side and the other free corner. | ||
* | * Shaded on one side and both free corners. | ||
* | * Shaded on two adjacent sides and the free corner. | ||
* | * Shaded on one corner. | ||
* | * Shaded on opposite corners. | ||
* | * Shaded on adjacent corners. | ||
* | * Shaded on three corners. | ||
* | * Shaded on all corners. | ||
If your textures are directional, then that number could double or quadruple. | If your textures are directional, then that number could double or quadruple. | ||
Walls will always need shading at the top and bottom, but will still need four types: | Walls will always need shading at the top and bottom, but will still need four types: | ||
* Unshaded | * Unshaded. | ||
* Shaded to the left | * Shaded to the left. | ||
* Shaded to the right | * Shaded to the right. | ||
* Shaded on both sides. | * Shaded on both sides. | ||
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But there is a solution: [[Bethsoft Tutorial Static Collections|static collections]]! | But there is a solution: [[Bethsoft Tutorial Static Collections|static collections]]! | ||
== See Also == | |||
*[http://www.youtube.com/?v=IO470Cxk3fA Bethesda youtube tutorial] - using the bunker kit and snap to reference. | |||
[[Category:Advanced_Modding_Techniques]] | |||