Steele on 2/8/2016 at 13:54
So I placed a secret door, gave it the same texture as the wall, positioned it so that it's flush with the wall... but when I light up and go in-game, you can see that there's a door there plain as day. Even with the lights OFF, it has a slightly different color.
Is there any way to fix this?
Here's a screengrab:
(
http://imgur.com/a/p9hTG)
Incidentally, if anyone has any suggestions on how to better camouflage that switch on the right (it's supposed to look like the pipe on the left, but it has that giant, conspicuous box behind it), that'd be great, too!
ZylonBane on 2/8/2016 at 14:22
It's hard to tell with that janky texture, but it seems like the texture scale on the door is horizontally compressed compared to the terrain around it. So that's one problem.
The lighting inconsistency is because object surfaces in Dark are lit per-vertex, while terrain surfaces are lit per-texel (subject to the lightmap resolution divisor). The difference is more apparent the closer light sources are to the object. Thief could really use a secret door object with surface subdivision applied to it so it gets lit in a more terrain-like manner. This technique has been used extensively on the SS2 side to improve object lighting, and it's really quite effective.
LarryG on 2/8/2016 at 15:42
One way I have dealt with this in the past is as follows:
1) Eliminate the ability of the player to change the lighting in the area where the secret door is to be.
2) Brush the secret doorway with a solid brush that blends into the surroundings invisibly.
3) Take a screenshot of the doorway.
4) Use the screenshot to make a texture that you use on your door object.
5) Try it out in-game
6) Adjust the texture and loop to step 5 until the secret door is invisible in-game.
NOTE: This approach is highly dependent on your lighting mode. Change that and you have to redo it all.
Another (easier) way is to hide the doorway behind repeating architectural elements. For example, which of the following archways hides a secret door? When you know that there is a door there, you can detect it, but playing the game? You are unlikely to notice. Protruding wood beams and columns also work well.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2292[/ATTACH]
Then of course, you can use an object, like a tapestry as your secret door. Which one is it?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2293[/ATTACH]
Nameless Voice on 2/8/2016 at 18:31
Like ZB said, you really need to match the texture size between the secret door and the surrounding terrain.
If your textures take up 8x8 of world space, then you need a secret door that has been UV mapped so that the textures on it take up 8x8.
It looks like the model you are using has the texture squished into 4v4.
Ideally, you'll want to throw together a quick 3D model of your own of the appropriate size (for the hole) and with the appropriate texture scale (probably just throwing a UV Map modifier, choosing Box, and scaling the gizmo to 8x8x8), and for best results subdivide the surface so that the lighting system has more to play with.
Try the attached model, an 8x4x1 secret door with 1-unit segments and an 8x8x8 UV mapping (aligned at the edges.)
Steele on 3/8/2016 at 01:23
Zylon: You're right! I actually shrank the surrounding texture down to size 15 to match, but it still looked off. I've used other secret doors with other textures, and they didn't have this problem. Is there something I may have done wrong in this case?
Larry: All good work-arounds. I'd probably have to save this for last, as I'm constantly tweaking my ambient light as well as where to place the actual lights. I could probably throw a few more pipes around the "doorway", it IS a sewer after all! That seems pretty simple, thanks for the ideas!
NV: Yeah, all that stuff sounds way beyond me, but I'll try your attachment, so thanks for that!
qolelis on 3/8/2016 at 03:47
Quote Posted by LarryG
2) Brush the secret doorway with a solid brush that blends into the surroundings invisibly.
3) Take a screenshot of the doorway.
4) Use the screenshot to make a texture that you use on your door object.
5) Try it out in-game
6) Adjust the texture and loop to step 5 until the secret door is invisible in-game.
I recommend trying the command wr_export_obj together with a multibrush export (because, you know, taking a screenshot in-game to create a texture is a bit like videofilming your monitor when you want to record things in-game ;) (sure, in old Dark the above steps were the only way, but not anymore) ):
1) Export the door brush together with enough surrounding brushes as a multibrush (I recommend using the version of the export command which preserves textures).
2) Import the multibrush in an empty mission (make sure that all your textures are available).
3) Adjust the UV for all brushes.
4) Export the door brush with wr_export_obj.
5) Import the exported object into anim8or (or any other 3D modelling software which can read .obj-files)
6) Check the UV for the textures. Do the usual trickery to create the bin file.
7) use the new door object in your mission and adjust the UV of the surrounding textures.
I used this method a lot in my final mission, and once you've done it a couple of times it's pretty easy to get things right the first time.
Steele on 3/8/2016 at 12:41
Quote Posted by qolelis
I recommend trying the command wr_export_obj together with a multibrush export (because, you know, taking a screenshot in-game to create a texture is a bit like videofilming your monitor when you want to record things in-game ;) (sure, in old Dark the above steps were the only way, but not anymore) ):
1) Export the door brush together with enough surrounding brushes as a multibrush (I recommend using the version of the export command which preserves textures).
2) Import the multibrush in an empty mission (make sure that all your textures are available).
3) Adjust the UV for all brushes.
4) Export the door brush with wr_export_obj.
5) Import the exported object into anim8or (or any other 3D modelling software which can read .obj-files)
6) Check the UV for the textures. Do the usual trickery to create the bin file.
7) use the new door object in your mission and adjust the UV of the surrounding textures.
I used this method a lot in my final mission, and once you've done it a couple of times it's pretty easy to get things right the first time.
I would only know how to do the first 2 steps. Everything beyond that is WOOSH, right over my head!
qolelis on 3/8/2016 at 15:09
Sorry for not writing the complete tutorial it deserves (I'm pretty much out of the loop now), but here are some links about wr_export_obj:
(
http://ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141191) http://ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141191
(
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140162) http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140162
Unfortunately, the tutorial ("WR_Export_obj.doc"), written by Ottoj55, linked to in the second thread seems to be gone. Oh well, now you at least know it exists.
LarryG on 3/8/2016 at 17:58
Another thing: take a look at some of the secret doors in the T1 and T2 missions. LGS didn't make that much of an effort to hide them really. When you look at a few missions you'll see that. I begin to think that the obviousness of their secret doors was a game play element to tip you off to look for how to open them. Don't sweat it too much and make a big project out of it. It may stick out like a sore thumb to you if the bricks don't align, but you would be amazed at how hard this can be to spot as you are playing the game, especially in dark areas.
john9818a on 3/8/2016 at 20:56
I use Larry's second example. I use trim around the secret door. It might help to use a completely different trxture on the secret door surrounded with trim and use the same texture on repeating panels on the same wall. If you keep the secret door in the dark it will be alot harder for the player to discern between the secret door and surrounding textures. In my last mission I cropped the trxture I had used for the wall to a 4x4 size and aligned the secret door/air brush with the pixels on the surrounding texture.
