Creating exterior levels (example with Workshop link)

[Geistertanz]

JohnWordsworth, lmaoboat:

It would look way better with higher boxes (the movement of the stars wouldn't be as apparent to the player if they are higher up and two-story buildings have better visuals for any cityscape), but it is a lot of work, because you need to edit every single wall set and decoration piece.

As I have never worked with blender before, I need to read some tutorials first.

I will try out the fog idea first, thanks to djoldgames' code.

And I will keep you updated on the progress! Until then, thanks for all the replies!

EDIT:

The fog looks great ingame, but sadly doesn't help much with the stars. Still going to be a welcome addition in future city maps.
(FF - City of Thieves, anyone?)

Here is the changed code:
particles.lua

Code: Select all

defineParticleSystem{
	name = "city_fog",
	emitters = {      
	-- fog
		{
		emissionRate = 1.5,
		emissionTime = 0,
		maxParticles = 100,
		boxMin = {-6, 0.1, -3},
		boxMax = { 6, 0.1,  3},
		sprayAngle = {0,30},
		velocity = {0,0},
		texture = "assets/textures/particles/smoke_01.tga",
		lifetime = {10,20},
		color0 = {2.55, 2.55, 2.55},
		opacity = 0.2,
		fadeIn = 9,
		fadeOut = 9,
		size = {4, 6},
		gravity = {0,0,0},
		airResistance = 0.1,
		rotationSpeed = 0.05,
		blendMode = "Translucent",
		objectSpace = false,
		}
	}
}

objects.lua

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defineObject{
   name = "city_fog",
   class = "LightSource",
   lightPosition = vec(1.2, 0.2, 0),
   lightRange = 0,
   lightColor = vec(2.55, 2.55, 2.55),
   brightness = 1,
   castShadow = true,
   particleSystem = "city_fog",
   placement = "floor",
   editorIcon = 88,
}

init.lua:

Code: Select all

import "mod_assets/scripts/particles.lua"

[Lmaoboat]

Maybe it wouldn't be too hard for the devs just to have a static 2d skybox.

[pulpum]

(FF - City of Thieves, anyone?)

maybe

maybe it's possible to include the dungeon itself in a sphere? sky is mapped on the sphere...maybe it could be more realistic (I have no ideas to make it...)

[SpacialKatana]

I used to do a lot of editing for quake engined games. The skyboxes for that game were done by six square pictures (up/down/north/south/east/west) with a 90 degree fov, textured onto a cube around the level. This would very likely require a game engine change, and probably not easy for the devs to implement at this late stage. Also lighting would require an elevated lightsource to look good/correct for shadows etc. I'm not expecting this in Grimrock any time soon.....Grimrock 2 maybe?

[Trap]

is anyone else working on this kind of stuff? I have been messing with some blue skies as well as night and some custom grounds like grass etc.

[Kuningas]

I want a clarification for something: how stuck are we with the squares in everything? I mean, is it not possible to model a massive, inversed hemisphere with the sky texture and place it as an object in the world? (and have ceilings be invisible, with separately placed visible ceilings for interiors) I am not familiar with the modeling / scripting part as of yet, but as a layman this seems like the obvious solution.

I don't want to insult you with this, of course, the stuff you people do is amazing and I doubt I'll ever reach the same quality!

[Geistertanz]

is anyone else working on this kind of stuff? I have been messing with some blue skies as well as night and some custom grounds like grass etc.

How is your work going so far? Do you have any screenshots?

I also updated my Workshop file to include basic ogre npcs (you know: 3d & not attacking you, about the same response you get from the usual store clerk these days) and a more detailed village. Still very basic, but I am getting there.

The link is on the first page.

[Trap]

my blue sky looks like crap lol.. nighttime is okay.. but still messing with height.. I'll post screenshots when I think it's worthy of looking at it haha ;p

curious to see your village ;p

[Trap]

(and have ceilings be invisible, with separately placed visible ceilings for interiors)

this please. hehe that would be sweet actually. need to get a forest wallset going now. ;p

[flatline]

Tried this just now. Good start. I was thinking that using the prison tileset would give a few more inches to the sky, since it has a higher ceiling. As soon as someone could edit the ceiling model and offset it even higher, things would look even better. It should be possible to create a considerably larger space between floor and skybox, if I understand it correctly. Or are there limitations in the engine that I'm unaware of?

For now, a completely black skybox seems the most convincing. Add some fog and thunderous lightning effects and it could pass for a dark night outside. As you say, the current star-sprinled texture doesn't really cut it, and until the roof can be lifted, I think a completely dark skybox is the most convincing.

*EDIT*

Thought about merchants. Created a mortar in the shape of a "merchants table" ie wooden box. It has to have exactly 7 spaces (like the mortar) or it crashes. Weighs 500 Kgs so you cant carry it away (well, unfortunately you can but not with it in inventory...). Trade in 8 rocks (currency, think of it as gold nuggets) and get a battle axe, for example. Three drawbacks so far:

1. Things created in a created Mortar do not disappear like they do in the real original mortar. Might have to use original mortar until it is fixed. Someone might have a fix?

2. You can pick up the merchants table with your mouse pointer and carry it around that way. Silly. (Patch suggestion to AH: Make stuff in your mousepointer give its weight to character 1.)

3. Two things can't have the same price, cause that would create both. Not a major issue.

Short code, super simple:

SpoilerShow

defineRecipe{
item = "battle_axe",
ingredients = {
8, "rock",
}
}

defineObject{
name = "Merchant",
class = "Item",
uiName = "Merchant",
model = "assets/models/items/wooden_box.fbx",
gfxIndex = 111,
weight = 500.0,
container = true,
containerType = "mortar",
capacity = 7,
}