Step 4 - Advanced Mapping
Step 4.1: Advanced lighting
Placing individual lights can look nice but is also be incredible time consuming on a big map. There is a shortcut to light up the entire map. Click on any shape of your map (for example the floor), press the N-key to open the entity inspector and add the following four things:
Placing individual lights can look nice but is also be incredible time consuming on a big map. There is a shortcut to light up the entire map. Click on any shape of your map (for example the floor), press the N-key to open the entity inspector and add the following four things:
Key: _blocksize
Value: 2048
Key: _floodlight
Value: 255 255 255 1000 80
Key: _lightmapscale
Value: 2
Key: gridsize
Value: 256 256 512
It should look like this afterwards:
The most important value here is the value of _floodlight. The 255 255 255 in it is the RGB code (the color) of the light. You can modify the light to a different color in this part. The 1000 in it is the average room size of your map and the 80 is the light-intensity. You can play around with those two value until it looks nice to you. If your room is bigger you need to use something higher than 1000. These settings are usually a good start though.
Delete the three light sources from the map that we built in the previous part of this guide. They aren't needed anymore now. A compiled version of the map will look like this now:
This doesn't look as good as the previous light sources yet. Once we make bigger rooms with windows and a skybox it will look much better though and is a much faster method than placing individual lights.
This doesn't look as good as the previous light sources yet. Once we make bigger rooms with windows and a skybox it will look much better though and is a much faster method than placing individual lights.
Step 4.2: Creating lava, water or slime
A popular obstace in race maps are gaps that are filled with lava, water or slime. First create a small pit after the ramp in our map that can be filled with lava later. This should already be possible with your current knowledge from Step 2 - The Basics:
Then create another shape inside of that pit, press the T-key while it is selected to open the texture browser, look for the folder world on the left in the texture browser and choose the lava texture inside of that folder:
This is a default lava texture that already includes the properties to kill a player that falls into it. Slime and water can also be found in that folder.
Step 4.3: Using a skybox
A lot of maps which in Warsow race aren't just closed rooms but seem very open with a sky and maybe mountains far in the distance. This background is called a skybox. A skybox isn't just any texture but has a script behind it that gives it special properties. First create a window like this in the roof of room that we created:
Now create another shape above that window hole that closes the hole, press the T-key while it is selected, and find a skybox texture in the texture browser. One default skybox texture can be found in the folder wdm9 and is called sky_s.
Ingame you will notice that the skybox texture shows a different part of the sky depending on which angel you look at it. This gives the map a nice and dynamic feeling and also better lighting.
You could also remove all the walls and the roof and instead make a box with the skybox texture applied to it around the entire map to make it seem very open. This can would look like this ingame:
Step 4.4: Use custome textures
To use your own custome textures you need to go to your Warsow installation folder, into the basewsw folder (for example D:\Games\Warsow 2.1\basewsw) and there create a new folder called textures:
Inside of the new textures folder create another folder and give it a unique name (for example mytex1). This will the the folder that shows up in the NetRadiant texture browser.
Put your own textures into that folder.
In NetRadiant you will now find that texture in the texture browser.
Having the texture on your harddrive won't make other people see the texture when they play the map on a server. Custom textures need to be put into the .pk3-file or they won't show up for other people. You need to create a textures folder in the .pk3-file of your map.
Inside of that textures folder you put the second folder that we've created (for example mytex1).
Inside of this folder you put the custom texture that you've used.
The folder structure in the .pk3-file is basically the same as the folder structure that we've created in the basewsw folder. If you did everything correctly everybody playing your map should see custom textures now:
Tip: Give the .pk3-file somebody else who doesn't have the textures on their computer for testing if the textures show up for them. The textures will still show up for you while testing even if you put them wrong into the .pk3-file because they are on your harddrive.
Step 4.5: Under construction!
Then create another shape inside of that pit, press the T-key while it is selected to open the texture browser, look for the folder world on the left in the texture browser and choose the lava texture inside of that folder:
This is a default lava texture that already includes the properties to kill a player that falls into it. Slime and water can also be found in that folder.
Step 4.3: Using a skybox
A lot of maps which in Warsow race aren't just closed rooms but seem very open with a sky and maybe mountains far in the distance. This background is called a skybox. A skybox isn't just any texture but has a script behind it that gives it special properties. First create a window like this in the roof of room that we created:
Now create another shape above that window hole that closes the hole, press the T-key while it is selected, and find a skybox texture in the texture browser. One default skybox texture can be found in the folder wdm9 and is called sky_s.
Ingame you will notice that the skybox texture shows a different part of the sky depending on which angel you look at it. This gives the map a nice and dynamic feeling and also better lighting.
You could also remove all the walls and the roof and instead make a box with the skybox texture applied to it around the entire map to make it seem very open. This can would look like this ingame:
Step 4.4: Use custome textures
To use your own custome textures you need to go to your Warsow installation folder, into the basewsw folder (for example D:\Games\Warsow 2.1\basewsw) and there create a new folder called textures:
Inside of the new textures folder create another folder and give it a unique name (for example mytex1). This will the the folder that shows up in the NetRadiant texture browser.
Put your own textures into that folder.
In NetRadiant you will now find that texture in the texture browser.
Having the texture on your harddrive won't make other people see the texture when they play the map on a server. Custom textures need to be put into the .pk3-file or they won't show up for other people. You need to create a textures folder in the .pk3-file of your map.
Inside of that textures folder you put the second folder that we've created (for example mytex1).
Inside of this folder you put the custom texture that you've used.
The folder structure in the .pk3-file is basically the same as the folder structure that we've created in the basewsw folder. If you did everything correctly everybody playing your map should see custom textures now:
Tip: Give the .pk3-file somebody else who doesn't have the textures on their computer for testing if the textures show up for them. The textures will still show up for you while testing even if you put them wrong into the .pk3-file because they are on your harddrive.
Step 4.5: Under construction!
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